Marion limps off court with injury, returns to lead UNLV

Steve Carp

Monday, Dec. 21, 1998 | 11:46 a.m.

In a game of can-you-top-this highlight-reel plays, Shawn Marion was looking to make his own contribution to ESPN's Sportscenter.

The 6-foot-7 UNLV junior went airborne for Mark Dickel's lob pass in the first half of the Las Vegas Shootout battle with Cincinnati, looking for a big-time throw-down.

But Marion never made the connection and with a little assistance from Cincinnati's Pete Mickeal, Marion lost his balance and hit the floor with a sickening thud.

The Thomas & Mack Center, which moments before was rockin' and rollin' with 15,424 fans, suddenly turned into a mausoleum, deathly silent as Marion clutched his right leg, withering in pain with just 6:20 gone by. Over at the UNLV bench, coach Bill Bayno was probably saying a thousand Hail Marys, hoping he hadn't lost his leading scorer and rebounder for good.

At first, it was feared Marion had landed on his hip as he was assisted to the UNLV locker room. It turned out to be a sprained ankle and Marion returned to the court a minute later, much to the relief of his coaches, teammates and fans.

He would score a team-high 20 points in UNLV's 86-73 loss to the No. 4-ranked Bearcats. But they were a quiet 20. He wasn't able to dominate this game as he had previously this year. And the ankle had little to do with it.

"I'll be all right," Marion said prior to limping out of the Mack late Saturday. "I'm confident we can come back Tuesday (against Oklahoma State)."

Marion said Mickeal undercut him as he went airborne to receive Dickel's pass. He lost his balance as a result.

"He gave me a shove," Marion said of the play that drew no whistle and resulted in a UNLV turnover. "It was a little scary."

Marion didn't get too many clean looks at the basket. He was 7 of 15 from the floor as the Bearcats played him physical and made sure there was always someone in his path when he tried to take the ball to the basket.

"They're good," he said of Cincinnati, which improved to 9-0.

Ready for zone

Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins knew UNLV was going to play its matchup zone Saturday, so he made sure his team was prepared.

Sure enough, the Bearcats found the soft spots inside and took advantage, especially when the Rebels played the matchup passively.

"We worked on it for two days straight," Huggins said. "We didn't want to stand outside. We wanted to attack it and shoot the ball inside."

Kenyon Martin was the main benefactor, getting great looks in the key and winding up with a game-high 23 points along with 11 rebounds.

Bayno knew he couldn't match up with the athletic Bearcats over a sustained period playing man-to-man. So he had to hope the zone would be active enough to cause Cincinnati problems.

It wasn't.

"They were ready for the zone," he said. "We tried mixing it up later. I thought our press and our trap helped get us back in the game. But they did a good job against the zone."

Hoop du jour

UNLV hadn't lost three straight games since Jan. 18-25, 1997 when the Rebels fell to Hawaii, Oklahoma State and Fresno State. UNLV has lost four of its last five going into Tuesday's game with Oklahoma State. ... If you liked what you saw of Arizona when the Wildcats beat Iowa State 75-61 in Saturday's first game of the Shootout doubleheader, make your plans to attend next year's game. Lute Olson's team will be back in 1999 to play a yet-to-be-determined opponent. UNLV, which is now 1-2 in the Shootout, plays Texas in the other game. ... Just about every NBA team had someone at Saturday's doubleheader. Among the notables were Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause and coach-in-waiting Tim Floyd, Lakers VP Jerry West and Milwaukee's George Karl.